Preview:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE

) ) Plaintiff ) ) v. ) ) EMERY WORLDWIDE CORPORATION, ) ) Defendant )

PAMELA DAVIS,

Docket No. 02-228-P-H

RECOMMENDED DECISION ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

The defendant, Emery Worldwide Corporation, moves for summary judgment on all claims set forth in the complaint. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, etc. ("Motion") (Docket No. 14) at 1. I recommend that the court grant the motion in part. I. Summary Judgment Standard Summary judgment is appropriate only if the record shows "that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). "In this regard, `material' means that a contested fact has the potential to change the outcome of the suit under the governing law if the dispute over it is resolved favorably to the nonmovant. By like token, `genuine' means that `the evidence about the fact is such that a reasonable jury could resolve the point in favor of the nonmoving party.'" Navarro v. Pfizer Corp., 261 F.3d 90, 93-94 (1st Cir. 2001) (quoting McCarthy v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 56 F.3d 313, 315 (1st Cir. 1995)). The party moving for summary judgment must demonstrate an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325 (1986). In determining 1

whether this burden is met, the court must view the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences in its favor. Nicolo v. Philip Morris, Inc., 201 F.3d 29, 33 (1st Cir. 2000). Once the moving party has made a preliminary showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists, the nonmovant must "produce specific facts, in suitable evidentiary form, to establish the presence of a trialworthy issue." Triangle Trading Co. v. Robroy Indus., Inc., 200 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir. 1999) (citation and internal punctuation omitted); Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e). "As to any essential factual element of its claim on which the nonmovant would bear the burden of proof at trial, its failure to come forward with sufficient evidence to generate a trialworthy issue warrants summary judgment to the moving party." In re Spigel, 260 F.3d 27, 31 (1st Cir. 2001) (citation and internal punctuation omitted). II. Factual Background The parties' statements of material facts submitted pursuant to this court's Local Rule 56 include the following undisputed material facts, appropriately supported by citations to the summary judgment record. The defendant corporation specializes in transportation services for business-to-business shippers of heavyweight cargo. Defendant's Statement of Material Facts Not in Dispute ("Defendant's SMF") (Docket No. 15)

Download DMC_06232003_2-02cv228_Davis_v_Emery.pdf

Maine Law